WAS it sarcasm on the part of TNT coach Chot Reyes?
The outspoken mentor described the officiating in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals as ‘excellent’ after the reigning champions Tropang 5G suffered a 116-102 loss to Barangay Ginebra Kings before the season’s biggest crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
READ Chot after Oftana goes 'missing' in Game 3: ‘Hinahanap ko rin s'ya’
Reyes commended the officiating crew despite getting ‘T’d’ midway through the third quarter and raising a lot of complains over the way the game was called.
“Excellent, excellent officiating today,” said Reyes with a straight face. “I have to commend the officiating crew. Excellent officiating.”
WATCH:
This is the third straight time that officiating came under the microscope in the best-of-seven title series.
Reyes was the first to raise the issue in TNT’s 102-100 loss to Ginebra in Game 1 after protesting what he said was a Justin Brownlee foul on an airborne Calvin Oftana in the Tropang 5G’s final play at the buzzer.
In Game 2, it was Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone’s turn to take a big at game officials, referring to officiating as ‘terrible in a 101-94 loss.
But Reyes was also quick to point out TNT’s shortcoming in the 14-point setback on Sunday.
“We gave up 20 turnover points,” Reyes noted of the 20-9 discrepancy in the department which he said was the story of the game.
“And they (Kings) shot extremely well,” Reyes added about Ginebra.
The Kings shot better at 51.9 percent overall (40-of-77) compared to the 43.9 percent of TNT (36-of-82).
Ginebra was actually 77.8 percent from the field at the end of the first quarter, while holding TNT to just 38.9 percent to take a 35-16 lead and control the tempo of the match the rest of the way.
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